Pressure is building as the voice vote draws closer

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s trip to Alice Springs shows pressure is mounting on the Labor leader ahead of a referendum on the voice. Picture: Liam Mendes / The Australian

Anthony Albanese’s crisis dash to Alice Springs on Tuesday revealed a Prime Minister under pressure, months out from staking his authority on a referendum to enshrine a constitutional Indigenous voice to parliament.

The federal government’s pledge to use a voice to parliament as a means to close the gap for Indigenous Australians faster contrasts with the shocking images of youth violence and alcohol-fuelled crime in the Territory.

Albanese’s flying visit, after Labor MP Marion Scrymgour on Monday warned the “voice couldn’t be further from people’s view up here (in Lingiari) because people are under siege in their own home”, will do little to instil confidence in a community gripped with fear.

Grog-related violence has been fuelled by inconsistent and poorly designed policies pushed by politicians and bureaucrats afraid to tackle the root cause of a national crisis, which is not isolated to Alice Springs. When frontline local Indigenous and community leaders demand “positive discrimination” and an increased police presence to combat the vicious cycle of alcohol-fuelled violence, they get half-baked and temporary responses.

An overwhelming majority of Australians want governments, who pump billions of dollars into Indigenous programs every year, to reduce family violence rates and deliver positive health, education and work outcomes for First Nations communities.

Too often, the voices of regional and remote Indigenous leaders are ignored by governments who consistently fail to achieve targets improving living standards and crime rates.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, whose side of politics also failed to reverse generational and systemic violence in Indigenous communities, this week shone a light on the worsening conditions in Alice Springs.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese holds a press conference in Alice Springs after meeting with local leaders and Chief Minister Natasha Fyles. Picture: Liam Mendes / The Australian

After visiting the town in October, he wrote to Albanese calling for a royal commission into sexual abuse of Indigenous youth.

Dutton has also raised concerns shared by many Australians over what a voice to parliament will actually deliver for Indigenous communities.

Public polling on support for the voice referendum has shown many Australians, while not opposed to constitutional recognition, are undecided on the Yes and No arguments.

Those leading the Yes campaign are concerned that any hit to momentum ahead of a likely October referendum could see voters drift to the No side.

They are also worried that some remote and regional communities exposed to violence and social disorder, who have heard similar platitudes from Canberra across decades, could oppose the voice over scepticism about a new advisory body and additional layers of bureaucracy accelerating action on the ground.

Albanese, who is not funding the Yes or No camps in the expectation of overwhelming private sector and community support in favour of the referendum, is exposed on both flanks as the Coalition and Greens finalise their positions.

Australians, already navigating a rental and housing crisis, labour shortages, high inflation, record energy prices and volatile global markets, will be asked by Albanese this year to support what he describes as a “minimal change to our Constitution” and a voice that is “subservient” to the parliament.

After a popular post-election period for the Labor government, in which it passed legislation enabling its industrial relations, skills, climate change, energy and childcare election policies, 2023 presents a myriad of unpredictable political challenges that will test Albanese’s fortitude.

If the Coalition and Greens oppose Labor’s proposed voice referendum, and a groundswell of support fails to materialise, Albanese’s key election promise faces defeat.